Test tone frequency?

[accuab 10+ year member]

So i tuned my amp with a 0 db 50 Hz test tone and the bass for rap is great but not so much for everything else. I listen to all kinds of music (rap, rock, country). Should I have used a -3db test tone instead so that it would be more all around? I figure rock and country doesn't hit bass with that much intensity and that's why the 0db doesn't get me what I want. I have an amp with a remote level so that I can adjust it for the different kinds but it still doesn't get me enough on non-rap music. Also where could I find a -3db tone? I can find tons of them at 0db but not very many of the rest.

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[Tupolev 10+ year member]

I had a stupid moment, forgive me.

Make your own in Audacity, SONAR, Pro Tools. That's what I do.

 

[accuab 10+ year member]

RoE to the rescue!
Realm of Excursion

I looked at them but all of theirs are 0db except for like 3 but those are all high frequencies.

Their -3 are 10, 20, and 1k

 

[accuab 10+ year member]

I had a stupid moment, forgive me.
Make your own in Audacity, SONAR, Pro Tools. That's what I do.

What do you do with those? Set the frequency you want at a certain level and then save the file?

And a link would be nice if you got it.

 

[accuab 10+ year member]

Any ideas here?

 

[05trailblazer 10+ year member]

i've messed with audicity but didnt have much luck with it. just google audicity and you should find it right away

 

[globalminds_ent 10+ year member]

-3 below unity gain or -3 below absolute zero because its a difference in the audio engineering world we sat gains by using the actual signal coming from the recording source (vocalist drums etc) the reason y setting amps with test tones sine waves is somewhat ineffective is because just that its a sine wave which is the best possible solution u can ask for but its unrealistic because music has a lot more dynamic range than a sine wave would .....setting gains is somewhat unreal because every song is mastered different and mixed different u can't expect to set gains one time and its going to be the same for every song u play....rap is mastered at about -10db the and rock is -6bd because rock has less bass content which lets u smash it harder with a limiter with out pumping and breathing I would say set your gains lower maybe plus 3db above unity gain or at unity gain if its not enough power go with a bigger amp because when u start going past unity gain u have about 10db anything above is more than likely going to be distortion

 

[globalminds_ent 10+ year member]

another reason is because kick drums are goin to hit harder than 808s so u set your amp at -3 below absolute 0 with a 50 Hz sine wave those kicks hit about 100-200hz so setting your amp like that u going to be gettin into distortion when them kicks hit

 

[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

-3 below unity gain or -3 below absolute zero because its a difference in the audio engineering world we sat gains by using the actual signal coming from the recording source (vocalist drums etc) the reason y setting amps with test tones sine waves is somewhat ineffective is because just that its a sine wave which is the best possible solution u can ask for but its unrealistic because music has a lot more dynamic range than a sine wave would .....setting gains is somewhat unreal because every song is mastered different and mixed different u can't expect to set gains one time and its going to be the same for every song u play....rap is mastered at about -10db the and rock is -6bd because rock has less bass content which lets u smash it harder with a limiter with out pumping and breathing I would say set your gains lower maybe plus 3db above unity gain or at unity gain if its not enough power go with a bigger amp because when u start going past unity gain u have about 10db anything above is more than likely going to be distortion

I don't know what you are referring unity gain as being but he means -3dB in the sense that a song at full loudness and no clipping is -0dB, and 3 below that is obviously -3dB. Depending what rap music you listen to the bass line can peak anywhere from -3 to -10dB, so I don't advise to do anything less than -3dB or else you run the risk of clipping your subs.

Here is a -3dB 50Hz tone http://kiwi6.com/file/02ia09vmxx

 

[globalminds_ent 10+ year member]

unity gain is the same as the 0db 50 Hz test tone(in volume)-3 below unity gain is fine but that is a lot of headroom its kinda complex but this is like the basics In the recording world and it depends on amp quality does the company let u go past absolute zero with their gain knob just to say they put out more watts when really all your playing is pure distortion? How would u no know? U can't see when your amp is going into the red and distortion is hard to hear in the low end people try to make settings gains a simple process its a little more complex and the #1 absolute key to clean sound on bass amps and full range amps besides especially since car audio uses 4ohm and under speakers most of the time

 

[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

unity gain is the same as the 0db 50 Hz test tone(in volume)-3 below unity gain is fine but that is a lot of headroom its kinda complex but this is like the basics In the recording world and it depends on amp quality does the company let u go past absolute zero with their gain knob just to say they put out more watts when really all your playing is pure distortion? How would u no know? U can't see when your amp is going into the red and distortion is hard to hear in the low end people try to make settings gains a simple process its a little more complex and the #1 absolute key to clean sound on bass amps and full range amps besides especially since car audio uses 4ohm and under speakers most of the time

If you set your gains for -3dB you will hardly ever run into distortion just because it's so rare for the bass line to be that loud anyways. And if it was distorting, music is dynamic enough that it would be for such a short period of time (i.e. on a kick drum) that it wouldn't do as much as if everything was being clipped

 

[whitedragon551 5,000+ posts]

I use a 0db 50Hz test tone with no issues.

 

[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

I use a 0db 50Hz test tone with no issues.

Of course you do.

 

[globalminds_ent 10+ year member]

there is a lot of kicks in a song when a mixer mixes a song they don't just let kicks go through and say oh its okay only clipping when the kick hits clipping is clipping every kick is distorted that starts to add up u don't want anything to clip so like I said if its not Loud enough use a bigger amp and gain down that way u won't even have to worry about setting gains your right bass lines are not that loud but kicks are u feel me

 

[rc10mike 10+ year member]

Did you use the correct target voltage?